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Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" RC Hits the Streets With Windows 7

oranghutan writes "Computerworld is reporting Canonical has made available the Release Candidate of its latest Linux-based operating system, Ubuntu 9.10, on the same day Microsoft launched the long-awaited Windows 7. 'The upcoming Canonical release, which is code-named Karmic Koala, is the latest version of the popular flavor of the Linux OS. The development release on Thursday pushed the OS one step closer to final release, which is due on Oct. 29, according to the company's release schedule Web page. An image of the OS is available for download on Ubuntu's Web site. Test versions of Karmic Koala RC available for download include the server, desktop and netbook versions.'"

27 of 483 comments (clear)

  1. Shitty Summary and Article by sexconker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    News would entail what's new in this version.

    Non news is a "hey guys Ubuntu has something new too" cry for attention amidst the Win 7 release.

    Ubuntu is great and all, but this article is crap.

    It barely gets around to mentioning:
    "Built on the latest Linux 2.6.31.1 kernel, Ubuntu 9.10 offers faster boot times, an improved user interface and programming tools for easier software development, according to Canonical."

    1. Re:Shitty Summary and Article by MrFlannel · · Score: 5, Informative
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      Clones are people two.
    2. Re:Shitty Summary and Article by tuppe666 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I guess Ubuntu will have to cope with the other 6 releases before Windows Vista III the terminal. Ubuntu unashamedly release is timed to contain the latest Gnome, http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.28/ of course it includes its own release notes as well http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/910. I'm sure your probably aware of good stuff in EXT4; GRUB2; Empathy; Software Centre that have been heavily documented everywhere including serious numbers of Application Improvements in Firefox and OpenOffice. Linux itself continues on spewing greater and improved hardware support which include the usual greatness http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux26Changes Check out 2.26.28 - 2.26.31 oh and X and Mesa and... Oh is that a Win 7 cry for attention I know whats new and Better Vista don't cut it!

  2. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    no one cares

  3. Re:Would have been better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The 2009-10-29 release date was chosen over 8 months ago, several months before Microsoft announced their release date for Windows 7.

  4. Re:Would have been better by Tarlus · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, I don't think it would have made a difference when they released it. Canonical sticks to a strict release cycle every April and October and they won't alter their release date just to try and compete with other operating systems. They're appealing to a fairly different user base, anyway.

    People who are weighing the option of Windows 7 vs Ubuntu 9.10 as their primary OS are going to make their choice regardless of which one came out a week earlier.

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  5. Re:Still some very important stuff to fix by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Informative

    This bug was reported on Oct 15th, and fixed on Oct 22nd. What more do you want?

    Of course if you're a Microsoft slave, you can wait for a bug to be fixed "when we get around to it", which will probably be in SP1 in 4-6 months or so - depending on how buggy THIS Windows version is... (sometimes they have to release the SP faster, like with Vista).

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  6. Causality is wrong by FlyingBishop · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ubuntu's fall release date has been set in stone for years, the RC release date has been up since before Windows 7's release date was announced.

    Microsoft is the company that chose to release Windows 7 on the same day as Ubuntu's release candidate, not the other way around. Seems like Microsoft wanted to overshadow and minimize the latest release of Ubuntu, and do so without actually permitting Ubuntu to compete.

    1. Re:Causality is wrong by jdgeorge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With a modest amount of money, you can put together a new system that provides a slick, fully-supported experience using Ubuntu Linux as the OS.

      The problem is that, like Windows, Linux distros that try to serve the mass market have the almost impossible task of supporting everything. It simply doesn't work in all cases.

      Apple solved this problem by packaging a very limited, controlled set of hardware with their OS. If a computer vendor does that with a Linux distro, they can provide a similar "it just works" kind of experience.

      For example, if you buy a Dell system with Ubuntu preinstalled, I think you will find it will "just work".

      On the other hand, if you install Ubuntu on your system made from parts that you might think "ought to just work", you're gambling.

    2. Re:Causality is wrong by dangitman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      d) This post will be down-modded to -1, Flamebait, Troll, or Overrated, because I'm making statements which cause cognitive dissonance in Linux Youth.

      Prove me wrong, Linux users.

      Wow, that was a really convoluted way to get your post modded up. It was an OK post (that I don't wholly agree with) until you pulled out this old chestnut.

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    3. Re:Causality is wrong by Kjella · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Here's my take on Linux support: Not that long ago, I'd have to chase high and low to find any Linux compatible hardware and certain things like wireless cards was near impossible. These days I have no problems finding Linux-compatible hardware, even though not all or even most hardware is compatible with Linux. There's usually some well-supported official drivers in most categories instead of the "best of the reverse engneered" there used to be. I don't remember this machine having a kernel panic ever, though X did have an oops a month ago because I've upgraded to a beta KDE/X release.

      If I was to say my biggest greatest annoyance with Linux, it's media plugins and flash in particular. If only Firefox would stop being so patent-freaky and decode H.264 when it is available then we could kill flash and live happily ever after. *buntu seem perfectly capable of shipping a video player that'll use the x264 codec if installed, so should Firefox.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  7. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by geckipede · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's so very tempting to mod this Informative...

  8. Win 7 vs Linux by leathered · · Score: 5, Funny
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    For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
    1. Re:Win 7 vs Linux by h4rr4r · · Score: 5, Funny

      http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/10/23/linux-creator-linus-torvalds-gives-windows-7-a-thumbs-up

      For people who don't read backwards R and backwards N containing languages..

  9. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by h4rr4r · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would imagine lots of folks with jobs do. I get it, Centos is not big with the unemployed living in Mom's basement demographic, but trust me outside that locked door there is a whole world with many people that do care about it.

  10. Re:Win7 wtf?! by Minwee · · Score: 4, Informative

    Right click on "My Computer" and select "Properties". You will see the Windows version number there. That option is available on such operating systems as Windows 95 (4.00.95), Windows 98 (4.10.1998), Windows EffingSucks (4.90.3000), Windows 2000 (5.0), Windows XP (5.1), Windows 2003 (5.2), Windows Fistsya (6.0) and the curiously named Windows Seven (6.1).

    So, unless you are a die-hard Applista or just started using computers this year, you probably do remember your Windows 4 and 5 boxes very well.

  11. Re:Win7 wtf?! by jipn4 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (Your typical Joe or Jane Q. Public will give-up at this point, and buy a Windoze PC-compatible or Apple Mac instead.)

    You're comparing apples and oranges. Your typical Joe and Jane Q Public couldn't figure out which version of Windows or OS X to install on their machines either, nor will they know whether to install Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate. The problem is the "having to install part", not the names.

    Buy Linux preinstalled and it won't overtax your brain. People will have made reasonable choices for you.

    Besides, none of those installations lock you in; it's one command to upgrade to any other one.

  12. Re:What Do the Status Colors Mean? by dissy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The (only) RC is dropped one week ahead of the final release? That's not really enough time to even get feedback from the test userbase, much less actually do anything about the bugs that might show up. So, are we to assume that the RC is basically just a marketing stunt?

    Considering that is not the purpose of a release candidate, of course not.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

    The term release candidate (RC) refers to a version with potential to be a final product, ready to release unless fatal bugs emerge. In this stage of product stabilization (read QA cycle), all product features have been designed, coded and tested through one or more Beta cycles with no known showstopper-class bug.

    RC just means no new code will be added at that point, so no new testing is needed, as all the code/features in it by that point were tested in development/alpha/beta stages.
    There of course could be bugs in the RC, but that is true of the final release just the same.

    These days an RC is used more to get users outside of your normal beta testers to use it, and make sure it works with the basics and didn't majorly break anything else that used to work in previous versions.

    Assuming that happens, the RC is basically renamed to release.
    Commercial software calls it RTM (release to manufacturer) which burns and presses the final CD/DVDs, and for open source that is the day the ISO is copied to the main download mirrors.

  13. Re:Win7 wtf?! by Hadlock · · Score: 4, Funny

    longhorn

    It's a Texas cow. Everything's bigger in Texas. Including our codebase, minimum requirements, load times, release cycles and bug lists(!)

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  14. Re:Code Name Runner-up by Again · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Karmic Koala" is great, but I would like to believe that "All-knowing Frog" was a close second.

    *sigh* Again, stop with the self-reference!

  15. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by Tarlus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nooo! We're talking about repackaged Debian. Stay on topic!

    * Braces self for negative modpoints *

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  16. It's ok by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Karmic Koala is fine, but I just can't wait for Masterbating Monkey to be released!

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    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  17. Re:Please use the torrents by sakdoctor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Good for you, but I have to use up as much of virginmedia.com bandwidth as possible, since they turned evil whilst I was an ADSL customer.

    Oh look, netbook remix. I haven't tried that one yet.

  18. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why not? The community support is better, there's a server version with the GUI stripped out that works well, and for what we're using it for (one MySQL database server, a webserver, a Zabbix performance monitoring server for other systems, and an email gateway) Ubuntu works just as well. Our desktops and most of our servers are Windows (not by my choice, but I have to live with that) so about all we're using Linux for is a few disjointed systems.

    At the time I was migrating all my systems to virtual machines anyways to make management easier (and I've always had hiccups with live-migrating machines - regardless of os - from physical to virtual), so I decided when I rebuilt them to go with Ubuntu instead.

    We are running OpenBSD on some of the other systems (DNS and a lot of our routers) but the main network admin handles those systems (I've used FreeBSD some but have never even tried OpenBSD).

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  19. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by arkane1234 · · Score: 4, Informative

    You lost us at the wording "Why not?"

    No professional ever changes for the sake of changing.
    The community support is far from better, it's UBUNTU. Redhat/CentOS has a world of following. Besides, how many Oracle or install on Ubuntu by support-release?

    Ubuntu hasn't proven itself as anything better than another way to do what Red Hat/CentOS has done in the server world.
    Our entire data center is Red Hat/CentOS, with XEN virtualization and clustering. While I'm a Debian/Gentoo person, I've noticed the merits of using something industry-accepted when in a publically traded company.

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    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  20. Re:CentOS 5.4 is out, too. by aztektum · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stop living vicariously through other modders.

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    :: aztek ::
    No sig for you!!
  21. Re:SeaLab 2021 by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Koala was to put focus on an endangered species. Karmic is your fairly uncommon adjective that Ubuntu can "coup" so you can google for "karmic *whatever your problem is*" and get relevant results that don't belong to a version from two years ago or every other page that happened to use the numbers 09.10. It works much, much better than Debian that I came from where they typically used stable, testing and unstable which left a ton of junk that doesn't apply to my stable all over the net. Yeah it's corny but it works extremely well.

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    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings